Yakko: Hello, readers. WG couldn't make it in because she's not feeling well and asked me to stand in for her. …Well, maybe not officially. She was just pulling up the document when suddenly she had to run to the bathroom to vomit, so I'm just killing time while she empties her stomach. …Not to mention, give you all a view of what's been going on with yours truly. Roll 'em!
Disclaimer: -is still in pieces-
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The last thing Yakko remembered was FF2 collapsing, and then exploding into a flash of blackness, seeing white outlined silhouettes flying across the darkness that surrounded him, one of them being himself, until finally he shot out of it and across the sky, his vision fading. Either I'm about to black-out, or I shouldn't have tried Scratchy's snickerdoodle-and-fudge cookies this morning, he thought before losing consciousness.
He was in the middle of a dream about being on a dinner-date with Minerva Mink, inches from locking lips with her, when he felt himself being shaken, and woke up to seeing an avatar with large blue-silver-and-red armor, having an elfish face, bright blue eyes, and brown spiky hair with a red flame-like style at the tips. "Hey man, are you alright?" he asked.
"Ugh, anyone get the number of that blast that hit me?" Yakko said, sitting up and rubbing his head, then looked around. "FF2? Zane? Hey! Where'd he go?"
"Who?"
"FF2… or Zane… whichever one he is now. He's a friend of mine, kind of looks like this-" he then held up a picture of Zane and FF2 in their avatar forms. "Depending on his identity crisis."
"Haven't seen him around. Have you've seen a guy who looks like this?" the avatar held up a picture of a kid with flame-red hair, red eyes, and wearing black armor. "He's a virus that hacked into the system, on a mission to destroy my avatar and put me in a coma… and distract from the current plot."
"Ah, can't say I have, but if we run into him, I'll let you know. Right now, I gotta find my friend and see if he survived that self-explosion."
"Mind if I tag along? I'm kind of new to this game,"
"Sure. What's your name, kid?"
"Matthew, but friends call me Fanatic97, or just Fan, or Fanatic, or Fan-97."
"Mind if I just call you Fanny?"
Fanatic gave him a glare. "Just call me Fanatic."
"Alright. …Say, I think I've heard of you before. You're a friend of WG's, aren't you?"
"Yeah! She said something about giving me a cameo in the story after I showed her a site that sold Fangface DVDs, as a reward… the site turned out to be cruddy, but she appreciated the gesture. …Speaking of which, where is she?"
"Last I checked, she was watching us play the game. Why?"
Fanatic then took out a laptop, bringing forth the last couple chapters. "She and the rest of your siblings entered The World to help you and FF2… all the while do a parody of one of your songs again."
Yakko turned to the reader. "Lets hope I don't have to bring up copyright to that girl. Well, c'mon, lets go fine them… sounds like they got into a bit of trouble in the last chapter,"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Meanwhile with Zane and the others…
Wakko, Dot, and WG looked at the nine new characters that stood before them- and were thankful they weren't in trouble. In front of them were the rest of FF2's egos: A djinn, a gargoyle, an alien, Dark Mickey, Norm, Spyro, and two vampires (please see Chapter 2 for reference).
"I was wondering what happened to you guys," Zane said, hands on hips. "Where were you when Skeith popped into FF2's head?"
"Trying to restrain him in the subconscious, that's where." The djinn answered. He looked just like FF2 but with tan skin and black hair and a fez- which struck everyone as strange, since his tone was originally blue… and he now had an Indian accent. "But, since FF2 had more experience in changing into him than us, he was stronger than the rest of us and broke free."
"How does that even make sense?" WG asked.
"Don't ask us, you're the writer." Dot answered.
"But FF2 never changed into Skeith, except that one time when he ended up destroying half of the building in a rampage until Tracker78 stabbed him with a cattle-prod and electrocuted him back to his original form." Zane answered. "After that, he refused to turn into Skeith, knowing he was too evil and uncontrollable."
"That's because Skeith was originally a prisoner of the bracelet," The gargoyle, who looked like one of the gargoyles from the series Gargoyles, only with FF2's features… and for some reason, he sounded like Goliath now (ooh, we're going to suffer copyright issues after this, aren't we?).
"After the original Kite defeated him, his bracelet absorbed Skeith's power as well as his being- a power no one thought the bracelet had- and locked him away, believing that as long as Skeith was locked within it, he could cause no harm," Dark Mickey added. He looked like Mickey Mouse, but with a gray face, silver eyes, a black cloak and armor… and he now wore glasses like FF2's (anyone seeing a pattern yet?).
"Unfortunately, right after it happened, he went into a coma." Norm answered. He was a dark version of Goofy, with pointed teeth, a cloak, red eyes, and also wore glasses now too, yet also had FF2's hair.
"At least he snapped out of it, right?" The first vampire answered. He spoke with a regular accent, and for some reason had blue skin… giving the hint that he used to be a kretin (i.e. half werewolf too).
"Yeah, after two months." The second vampire answered, having pale skin, his black hair combed neatly rather than messy like the other's, and he spoke with a British accent.
"After all these years, Skeith managed to get into FF2's mind, and used his power to split all of us from him so we couldn't interfere with his plan," The alien answered. He looked like FF2 (no surprise), with blue hair, blue eyes, and blue armor… though, what everyone noticed right away, was that his skin was a fair color, no longer blue.
"What plan?" Wakko asked, cocking his head.
"Ah, he's just trying to get full-control of FF2's mind and use his powers to take over and become a stronger virus… typical computerized-villain type of stuff." The djinn answered, wavering his hand critically.
"What we're trying to figure out is who launched Skeith in the first place," Norm answered. "And we figure you and Silver could help us with that, Zane."
"By tracking down FF2 and giving Skeith a run for his money? My pleasure," Zane said, grinning.
"It won't be that easy." The cyborg, Blackwing, answered. He looked like FF2's first OC, Kite, but with a robotic arm and eye. (Just so you don't get confused, Kite looks like FF2 with brown spiky hair and hazel eyes- nothing like the .hack character). "With him controlling FF2, we have to find a way to defeat Skeith without harming him. Since you and Silver are actual identities to him rather than egos like us, you're more of a part of him, and in being part of him you have a link to his mind… and with his mind being controlled by Skeith, there's a chance you can look deep enough into the virus' own mind and find its source."
"That sounds easy!" Wakko exclaimed.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" The gargoyle scoffed. "If Zane or Silver got in too deep into Skeith's mind, there's a chance the virus could take control of their minds as well."
"No one's getting their hands on my brain," Zane said, holding the top of his head.
"Ah, but there is ONE who can do it without harm-" the alien began to say.
"Oh don't start that again!" the British vampire scoffed.
"Start what?" Dot asked.
"Oh, there was a rumor going around the bracelet (no pun intended) that there was another side of FF2, a part of him even he never knew about." The djinn answered. "But none of us really found proof,"
"What was this side of him you're referring to?" WG questioned.
"It's called… the Black Ink-Alchemist." The blue vampire answered, dramatically.
"Oh, brother, here we go…" Norm muttered, face-palming.
"It is said that a being with the blood of both cartoon and reality, who has mastered the power of ink-alchemy, shall-"
"WATCH OUT!" the Spyro-dragon… who, we forgot to mention, looked like Spyro but now was deep-red rather than purple… shouted as he shoved everyone out of the way, just as a ball of electricity shot at them, making a crater in the ground.
"Alright, who's the wise guy?!" Dot demanded, standing up.
Everyone looked up at the top of a hill, seeing a flame-haired kid with red eyes wearing black armor. "Surprise! You won't mind if I take over the plot for a while, would you?" Hater said, smirking. "Now, who wants to die fir-"
*WHACK!*
Wakko took out a large steel mallet and whacked the virus, making him see stars. "Nice work, Wakko. I was afraid we'd be at the mercy of another cliff-hanger," WG said.
Hater stood up. "THAT'S IT! You're going first, Warner! You and that pathetic author-" he began to shout, but paused when he saw WG. "Uh… what happened to your outfit?"
*BAM!*
WG punched his lights out. "STOP STARING! That's it, where's Fanatic's cameo?!" she snarled.
As if on cue, Fanatic and Yakko came walking over the hill. "…And that's how we got kicked out of Wal-Mart the thirty-second time," the author-cameo was telling the eldest Warner.
"YAKKO!" Dot, Wakko, and Zane exclaimed, running forth.
"You're ALIVE!" Wakko exclaimed as they tackled their brother.
"Guys, you're okay too!" Yakko exclaimed. "…Good thing, too, I was just about to auction your stuff off e-bay."
"What took you so long?" WG asked Fanatic.
"Don't ask me! You're the one writing the story," Fanatic scoffed, then glared at Hater. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to kick my OC's butt."
"No thanks, I've had plenty!" Hater said, then took off.
"GET BACK HERE!" With that, Fanatic took off, looking back at WG. "See you back in Security Authors!"
Everyone blinked. "…Was there any point to that?" Dot asked.
"Only that every story has to include something random- and this story is chock-full of it." WG answered.
"(ahem) As I was saying…" The blue vampire began. "One who has the blood of both cartoon and reality and has mastered ink-alchemy shall be able to take on the form of the Black Ink-Alchemist, and have power beyond his enemies' and conquer them…"
"Only that's not possible because it doesn't exist!" The gargoyle sneered.
"Does too! FF2 has to have the ability- he matches the description perfectly!" The alien argued.
"Does not, it's just a rumor! A legend! A fable!" The vampire sneered.
"That's what they said about the tooniverse, and look where we're standing in now, pal!" The djinn answered.
"It's still a myth!" Blackwing scoffed.
"So's your brain!" the Spyro-dragon huffed.
Each of the egos argued, save for Dark Mickey, who merely rolled his eyes then took out a key-blade, stabbing it into the ground and sending off a thrust that shook the ground, gathering their attention. "Rather than argue on what's true or what's fiction, why don't we stick to the matter at hand and find FF2?" he said, sternly.
"The mouse is right. Lets get going!" Yakko said. "I remember where he was before we got separated,"
They followed the eldest Warner across the field, and Dot turned to the rest of the egos. "So, what are your names?" she asked.
"Call me Pyro," the Spyro-dragon answered. "I'd have you call me 'Spyro', but I don't want to rip off anything and get us sued."
"I'm Levi," The gargoyle answered.
"I'm Ramus Lycan," The blue-vampire added.
"I'm Jess." The British vampire replied.
"I'm Rob," The djinn put in.
"Blackwing," Blackwing put bluntly.
"Dark Mickey, but call me Michael, and this is Norm." Dark Mickey said, then thumbed towards Norm, who only gave a nod.
"And I'm Tolken." The alien concluded.
Yakko took out a notepad. "That's nine more characters to include in this story," he said, scribbling their names down.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Back in the real world…
Rem stretched, standing up from the computer. She had been on it for three hours, and realized this was possibly the longest time she's had peace and quiet while in the same room with the Warners… though, that only made her a bit concerned, knowing that when they were quiet it meant something was definitely wrong. I know they said something about falling asleep after turning the game on… but what if they don't wake up? she began to think…
*BAM!*
The door flung open just then, and there stood Slappy, having an unconscious Skippy in her arms. "Yo! Where's those two lab-rats? I need Brain to examine my nephew's head, he's gone into a coma!" The elderly squirrel called.
"A coma? How?" Rem asked.
"Don't know. He was just playing a videogame, and BOOM! he's on the floor, more unconscious than the staff during one of Thad's business speeches," She paused, seeing the others on the floor. "Ah, crud, don't tell me the same thing happened to them!"
"They're just asleep… but Yakko slipped into a coma, along with this Fangface the Second kid… It all has something to do with split-identities and viruses, I don't really understand it that much."
Slappy turned to the reader. "Sounds to me like some wacky sci-fi fan-fiction," she turned back to Rem. "What have you've been doing this whole time?"
Rem showed her the computers. "I've pulled up this game, 'The World', and looked up Fang-whatever's character, managing to hack into the data and get a replay of what happened to him, and right now I'm tracing the source to this virus that's affected him."
Slappy rubbed her head. "Geez, back in my day, the only virus we had to worry about was the flu."
"I've been working on it for hours, and it looks like it'll be pulling up the source right-"
*Bzzz-rrrrt-eeeeoooo-kkkksh*
*Bleep! Bleep!*
*BEEEeeeeoooop…*
The computer blue-screened and shut down, and suddenly short-circuited and began smoking. "Dammit." Rem growled. "Apparently, that damn AVG protection was no match against this 'Skeith' virus,"
Slappy rubbed her chin. "And you say this virus is just in this game?"
"Yeah. The others said that, in the game, players have to defeat these 'data-bug' viruses, and Skeith is a powerful virus that's trying to take over, and they went into the game to try to defeat him."
"And you didn't go with?"
"They wanted me to stay behind and stand by in case something happened… plus, it's just a virus. I figured if I got a trace to the source, I could shut it down and put an end to this 'coma' nonsense."
"Uh-huh… Well, in case you haven't noticed, Rem, this 'coma nonsense' is more serious than we think. Just look at Skippy- unless the Warners and their pals succeed, he might be a vegetable the rest of his life… and believe me, the show won't be that entertaining if he's not his energetic self."
Rem looked at Skippy, then at the others. "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that this 'virus' might not just be some nerd trying to hack someone, able to get rid of just by cleaning out a computer or hacking back. I'm thinking it's something you need to destroy within it's own area with your own skills, like what they're doing."
"Are you saying I should go into that game?"
"I ain't saying nothing. Just that your pals might have the right idea… especially that Zane, kid. He's pretty smart for a Warner- word has it that before he came around, FF2 had a hard life, almost losing everything including his mind until he found the strength to keep together, and find there was more to himself than met the eye. …But, what do I know? I've only met him last Christmas." she picked up Skippy. "Good luck with them, Rem. I gotta get my nephew to the hospital, now that I know what's really wrong with him."
Rem sat down. She looked at the damaged computer, and back at the others, seeing the spare helmet they had left out for her. She picked it up, looking at it then back at the others, then sighed. "Shit."
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A/N Alright, still contemplating a decision for that last scene. And wow, new characters and a new addition to the plot. What's next?
Review. No flames- uh, hold that thought. (runs back to the bathroom)
Yakko: (shakes head) Yep, she's got a lot of recovering to do. Well, you heard her- review, but don't flames… unless you want an expressed anvil delivery, (pulls in catapult loaded with a giant anvil).
